I’m tired of listening to ads about the census. I’m depressed that we have to spend so much money trying to convince people that filling out the census is a good thing. I am baffled that people get so worked up about it. I see no conspiracies, no evil intent, behind counting up how many people live where. To me it is practical, necessary and sensible. It makes me worry to realize there are so many people who are filled with so much mistrust that they fear the census.
My biggest worry is how to account for my mom being in a nursing home temporarily. I went to the census website, and could find no answers, because all of their help was geared toward convincing people that filling out the census helps us get the number of buses and traffic lights and tax dollars we need.
I KNOW all that. I’ve known it my entire life. I learned it in elementary school. I’ve lived through what, five, six censuses now? The questions I need answered involve my mom, and my daughter’s fiancee, who will be living in a hotel in another state temporarily on the day of the census. I got the answer to the question about my mom when the actual census form arrived…the nursing home counts her.
I’m just tired of all the mistrust, the anxiety, the suspicion. People need to chill.
The obesity epidemic in America is nothing compared to the paranoia epidemic. Morons.
As to Mom & fiance, don’t stress; just do something sensible. Remember, this isn’t like your tax return where they can check the facts & you’ll get in trouble for being mistaken.
I’m not suggesting you sabotage the census by inventing a dozen kids and claiming your house has 47 toilets. Just do something reasonable.
If Mom normally lives with you, fill out the form that way. If the nursing home is her present & future domicile, get another form and turn it in with that as her residence. If they’re both in the same zip code, then it really doesn’t matter which you do. So do the easy thing and put her on your form.
The Constitution requires a census and the Supreme Court said that it must be an ACTUAL count.
The ads are for one purpose, to get people to fill the forms out so they won’t have to come looking for you.
In Chicago a census enumerator makes $18/hr. As you can see it’s MUCH cheaper to spend a few bucks on ads to hit home the importance of mailing the form in, that it is to pay someone to go looking for you.
Also look at it this way, if you are worried about your data getting into the wrongs hands, if you fill in the form and seal it and mail it off, it goes to census employees. If you don’t the temporary census employees come to get. It’s much more likely a temp employee will abuse your info than it is that a regular census person will.
After all if I work for the census temporarily and go to your home and think your an illegal immigrant, I can easily report this to the INS anonymously
There’s not really any overly-sensitive information on the census anyway, is there?
Admittedly, my last two census’ were, respectively, before I was able to do much more than eat & shit myself and just as I was learning how to write a thesis statement (or whatever it is you learn at 10 years old), so I’m not really sure.
It’s pretty much just about the makeup of your household, no? Ages, Dates of Birth, marital status… not social security numbers and mothers maiden names?